Latest Cancer News

DNA Repair Protein to Have a Novel Role in Cancer Disease, Scientists Unveil

admin — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 16:10:02 +0000

Researchers in Tufts University have found that a certain cellular protein which has a key role in repairing damaged DNA molecules could also help the cancer development.

Mitch McVey, Assistant Professor of Biology, and his team of researchers report that PolQ (DNA polymerase theta) could promote a wrong repair process, supposed to be the cause of mutations, cell death and even cancer. The research has been published in the open-access PLoS Genetics journal, the 1st of July edition.

Scientists have been aware for many years that the DNA polymerase theta is in a way related to cancer development, but the exact cellular role it has is difficult to reveal, according to McVey. It is known that its action during incorrect DNA repair might have implications for those biologists who analyze genomic modifications associated with cancer.

The DNA molecule is double stranded and shaped in the form of a spiral staircase. The two strands are connected together by nucleotides like adenine, cytosine, guanine and thymine, which naturally complement each other. Under normal circumstances, a guanine nucleotide corresponds to a cytosine, while an adenine corresponds to a thymine.

During a cell’s life, it may occur that the staircase is cut off into two molecules. The breaks are to be repaired if cells are supposed to replicate accurately and transmit their genetic material. An important part of these breaks is fixed fast and accurately during a process named HR (homologous recombination). This process uses for repair a template formed of an intact DNA copy. There is, however, a second process, named end-joining repair, which is susceptible of errors. It stitches back together the broken stranded ends without considering the original sequence. Thus, the ends of the strands may be modified by addition or removal of little DNA segments that could alter the genomic architecture.

Mitch McVey and Amy Marie Yu, a doctoral student, have demonstrated an alternative structure of end-joining after studying how repair goes on when DNA ligase 4 is absent. DNA ligase 4 is an important protein which connects together two broken ends of DNA.

Two things have been observed during the analysis of breaks inaccurately repaired in Drosophila melanogaster, the fruit fly. One thing was that extra nucleotides were added to the DNA strands were the breaks were present. Secondly, the insertions were tightly related to the DNA original sequences that were adjacent to the breaks.

The authors have shown that polymerase theta has a dominant role to play in the alternative repair process. It reads first the genetic material present in the DNA neighboring the break and constructs a copy of its structure. The copy of the DNA is then used as a molecular sliver which holds together the ends of the broken strand until they are able to join permanently. The PolQ protein is also believed to be able to unwind the sequences of DNA in the neighborghood of a break and this way facilitates alternative end-joining.

Levels of the protein have been demonstrated to be higher in many types of tumors present at the human, as other groups of researchers have previously shown. McVey’s team is currently working to find out if an alternative type of end-joining depending on the PolQ protein is eventually involved in human cancer. If this is found to be true, then there would be a new target for developing new cancer drugs and this would be the PolQ protein. The first goal of the team is to establish which parts of the protein are playing an active role in alternative end-joining. This could give the team a road map for studying how the activity of the protein has to be altered in order to achieve the expected results.

The National Science Foundation together with the Ellison Medical Foundation has funded the work of McVey’s team.

Genetic Research Brings New Information Referring to Milk and Risk of Renal Cancer

admin — Sun, 09 May 2010 21:34:28 +0000

Previous research had induced the idea that drinking milk was increasing the risk of renal cell cancer, but a recent study denies the genetic contribution milk consumption could bring to renal cancer risk.
Lead researcher Nicholas Timpson, Ph.D., is a lecturer in genetic epidemiology at the MRC CAiTE Center in the department of social medicine at the University of Bristol, in the United Kingdom. He said that the data in the study is no concrete evidence that milk drinking should be altered in any way. Timpson also added that lack of reasons to associate milk and renal cell cancer leads to the conclusion that no fear that milk consumption would increase cancer risk is likely to be founded.
The results of the study are published in the May issue of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, which is a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.
A connection between milk consumption and the risk of renal cell carcinoma was established by early studies, but it is not very clear if this association is only casual or is determined by real facts. Timpson and his colleagues have used a genetic marker to help them clarify this topic.
During four years, starting from 1999, the researchers have conducted a large case-control study in hospitals from four countries situated in Central and Eastern Europe.
Researchers have used observational, genetic and phenotypic information and determined that the genetic variant at the gene MCM6, supposed to be associated with lactose tolerance, may be used as a marker for milk consumption linked to cancer risk.
Adult milk drinkers versus non-milk drinkers present a difference in the odds of renal cell cancer of approximately 35 percent. However, the evaluation of the relationship in a more direct way, based on genetic data, does not reveal any association between milk drinking and renal cancer.
Timpson said that they found evidence for the relationship between renal cancer and milk consumption, but when using genotypes to verify this relationship no corroboration was possible. This fact suggests that the basic findings could be subject to inaccuracies that often affect epidemiological research. According to Timpson, the study needs to be contracted on a larger scale to verify initial findings.
Johanna Lampe, Ph.D., is an editorial board member of Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention and is not associated with this study. She also is a full member and nutrition scientist in the division of public health sciences at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, Wash. Lampe said that the research demonstrates the complexity of such an evaluation, when it comes to dietary exposure and cancer risk.
According to her, the results of the study invite to caution when interpreting data that indicate an association between certain foods and the risk of a particular form of cancer, as human diet is far too complex and typically involves adherence to dietary patterns related to lifestyle behaviors.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Four Times More Likely to Be Developed by Persons Surviving Childhood Cancers

admin — Sun, 09 May 2010 21:31:59 +0000

Young adults who survived childhood cancers are four times more exposed to developing PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) than other persons, according to a Childhood Cnacer Survivors Study.
The study was focused on 6,543 survivors of childhood cancer, all of them over 18, who were diagnosed with different forms of cancer between 1970 and 1986. 368 of their siblings were referred to as a control group. The study revealed that 589 survivors, i.e. 9 percent, reported functional damage, clinical distress and symptoms consistent with PTSD diagnosis. Compared to this group, only 8 siblings, i.e. 2 percent, reported the same symptoms. The study is published in the latest issue of the journal Pediatrics.
Dr. Margaret Stuber, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, researcher at Jonsson Cancer Center and first author of the study, declared that childhood cancer survivors, like any other person with PTSD, have been exposed to events that made them frighten or feel helpless or horrified. In her opinion, the study plainly demonstrates that some of these survivors experience intense suffering many years after their successful treatment. Development of PTSD can be really crippling for childhood cancer survivors. The disease is treatable and, as a consequence, patients do not have to live with it.
Survivors affected by this disease often report symptoms keeping them from normal functioning, such as phobias, avoidance of reminders of their cancer history, extreme anxiety, feelings like being on edge, being hyper vigilant, startling easily and increased arousal.
As Stuber said, other studies having tried to look for PTSD in childhood cancer survivors while still children or adolescents only found 3 percent reporting this kind of symptoms.
Several reasons are explaining this discrepancy. Treatment regimens popular today use less toxic medication and whole head radiation for brain tumors and therefore cause far less trauma to young patients. As a conclusion, improved supportive care patients enjoy today may cause fewer physical and cognitive late effects than before.
Stuber’s study reveals that survivors of childhood cancer often were subject to unpleasant regimens used in the 1970s and 1980s. Those that underwent more damaging and toxic therapies reported more cases of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Another important reason that more patients reported PTSD symptoms is the stressful situations they had to face, considering their age, like finding a job or getting married and starting a family. As Stuber outlined, the stress is an important factor that can exacerbate the PTSD.
The study concludes that incriminated symptoms, functional impairment and clinical distress affect the more vulnerable survivors of childhood cancer, as they have to face multiple tasks of young adulthood as well as many challenges of the late effects of their cancer treatment, as the study reveals.
The protection of the parental home is important but is diminished as survivors of childhood cancer have to face challenges such as completing their education, finding an appropriate job, getting a health insurance, establishing intimate relationships, getting married and starting a family.
Harsh therapies underwent by many patients induce significant late effects like infertility, stunted growth or cognitive impairment. All these are supposed to add to stress level. People suffering from cognitive impairment, for example, may find impossible to go to college or get a good job in order to earn an adequate income.
The same patients may not get a health insurance. They also may have difficulties in getting married because they are sterile. On the other hand, those who can have children may be afraid of transmitting their “bad genes” onto their children. Growth may also be affected by these treatments; therefore some survivors may be heavier or shorter than their peers. They could feel like being damaged machines.
Stuber said that therapy and medication are available for the survivors in order to make them able to manage their symptoms, but the issue is not simple at all to solve.
After more intense treatment, people are more likely to have this kind of symptoms, as their treatment produced more traumas. As more damage was done, their bodies are affected and they may find more difficult to have a normal life later.
The study was funded by The National Cancer Institute and looked at children with all forms of cancer.

Identification of Key Mechanism in Breast Cancer

admin — Sun, 09 May 2010 21:28:38 +0000

A key molecular mechanism that favors spreading of tumor cells to adjacent or distant regions of the body has been identified by researchers at the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center. This process is called metastasis and appears in breast cancer as well as in other types of this disease. As a result of this study, ways to new lines of research are opening, which aim at developing efficient treatments for metastatic breast cancer.
The team led by Peter Zhou, associate professor of molecular and cellular biochemistry at UK, concentrated on studying the process by which cancer cells stop holding tight to other cells and become capable to move and spread throughout the entire body. The results of the research were published in the EMBO Journal, the most representative publication of the European Molecular Biology Organization.
The motility of tumor cells is increased at the initial phase of metastasis and is similar to the epithelial-mesenchymal transition process (EMT) that is necessary for large-scale movement present in embryonic development, wound healing and tissue remodeling. It is known that during wound healing cells from the edge of the wound are subject to an EMT process and migrate to the middle of the wound in a sealing effect.
All EMT processes are characterized by loss of a cell-to-cell adhesion molecule called E-cadherin, which has the role of molecular glue. It attaches cells to each other. Breast cancer cells take control of this process and proceed to invasion and metastasis. When this molecular glue is destroyed, cancer cells start to migrate and then spread throughout the whole body.
Snail is a protein that acts in the cell’s nucleus, suppresses E-cadherin expression and induces EMT in the cell. As previous researches have shown, Snail is elevated in many forms of cancer, and particularly in breast cancer. Increased levels of Snail have been related to metastasis and tumor cell survival, as well as tumor recurrence. Scientists are not yet sure how Snail manages to trigger down-regulation of E-cadherin and induce metastasis in breast cancer.
Zhou and his team used a protein purification approach and found that Snail makes team with the LSD1 enzyme, inside the cell. LSD1 is already known to produce changes in the structure of DNA and inhibits the expression of many genes.
LSD1 is not chemically related to the hallucinogen LSD and stands for lysine-specific demethylase-1. It regulates the chromosome’s structure by removing a key methylation at histone H3, which is a core component warping the DNA into compact form. Thus, the closure of DNA is started and down gene expression, such as E-cadherin, is shut. According to Zhou’s team, the N-terminal portion of Snail molecules works as a molecular hook for recruiting LSD1 to the E-cadherin gene. This one, in turn, will shut down the expression of E-cadherin and will induce cancer cell invasion and metastasis.
This research has important clinical implications, as chemical agents or compounds that are able to break the interaction of Snail with LSD1 have great potential in metastatic breast cancer treatment. Scientists are exploring this idea and are committed to develop medication efficient in metastatic cancer treatment.
One of the most common forms of cancer in women, breast cancer determines an important rate of mortality. About 90 percent of death cases are caused by local invasion and distant metastasis. The average survival after the appearance of metastasis is about two years.
According to Peter Zhou, a good understanding of the mechanism of breast cancer metastasis will allow new therapeutic approaches and will make more efficient the combat against this terrible threat.

Popular Diabetes Medication Supposed to Work Differently than Expected

admin — Sun, 09 May 2010 21:19:56 +0000

Metformin, as popular diabetes medication, may work in different way than currently accepted. New elements could lead to wider use of this drug, particularly in treatment of cancer and some diseases related to TSC deficiency, such as tuberous sclerosis and LAM (lymphangioleiomyomatosis).
This surprising information has been published in the May 5th edition of Cell Metabolism as a result of a study led by PhD George Thomas, scientific director of UC’s Metabolic Diseases Institute.
Metformin, first marketed as Glucophage by Bristol-Myers Squibb, now available in generic form, as well as in a number of combinations, is frequently prescribed to patients with type 2 diabetes and could also be used as a treatment against certain forms of cancer. The drug has an important effect in blocking the production of glucose and determines increased sensitivity to insulin, a hormone that has the role of converting sugar and other foods into energy necessary to the body.
Researchers have believed that metformin, which is an energy-deprivation agent, has effect on disabling the mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) complex by activating, in the first instance, the TSC (tuberous sclerosis complex) proteins through an enzyme named AMPK.
The scientific team concluded that mTOR could be disabled without AMPK and even without TSC. The research determined that metformin annihilates mTOR by means of another enzyme, RAG GTPase.
Thomas opinion is that scientists have to reconsider things already labeled as classified. Professor Thomas thinks that latest researches have revealed the possibility of using metformin in new directions.
An extended use of metformin, a drug already prescribed to 100 million patients worldwide, is perfectly possible, according to the professor.
Such a drug, which increases insulin sensitivity, could be a viable alternative to medication that targets mTOR, but may present long-term injurious effects on insulin production. Type 2 diabetes originates in the body’s impossibility of using insulin properly. If not treated, diabetes has harmful effects on vision, leading to vision loss, heart attack, kidney failure, stroke and serious damages of nerves or blood vessels.
Study co-authors are, in alphabetical order, Nabeel Bardeesy, Sophie Brûlé, Patrick Dennis, Pawan Gulati, Adem Kalender, Bruce Kemp, So Young Kim, Sara Kozma, André Marette, John Schlager, Anand Selvaraj and Benoit Viollet.
George Thomas and Sara Kozma are supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Mouse Models for Human Cancer Consortium, and the NIH’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Adem Kalender and Anand Selvaraj receive support by appointments to the Research Participation Program at the Air Force Research Laboratory, Human Effectiveness Directorate, Bioscience and Protection, Wright Patterson Air Force Base, administered by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education.

Kidney Transplant Recipients Risk Cancer, Drugs Are Irrelevant

admin — Sun, 09 May 2010 20:36:13 +0000

According to a study published in JASN (Journal of the American Society Nephrology), drugs taken by those persons having received kidney transplant represent similar risks of cancer, no matter their origin. The higher incidence of cancer among these patients cannot be related to any of these drugs particularly, but the medication by itself increases the risk.
Statistics reveal that there is an increased risk of developing cancer for kidney transplant receivers versus the general population. This increased risk is supposed to be due to immunosuppressive medications taken by this kind of patients for a long time in order to prevent organ rejection. Studies conducted by Martin Gallagher, MBBS, The George Institute for International Health in Australia (FRACP) and his team have dealt with transplant patients who had taken part in a randomized clinical trial about twenty years ago, with the declared purpose of outlining the differences in cancer risk related to different immunosuppressive medications.
What researchers had to study was the incidence of the disease among 481 kidney transplant patients in the Australian Multicentre Trial of Cydosporine Withdrawal. Patients have received one of the following three treatment combinations: cyclosporine monotherapy, cyclosporine monotherapy switched to azathioprine and prednisolone therapy after three months, or azathioprine and prednisolone alone.
A number of 226 out of the 481 patients in the trial have developed at least one type of cancer. Within twenty years post transplant, non-skin cancer was developed by 27 percent of patients, while 48 percent of them developed skin cancer. No matter what the type of treatment was, there was no effect on cancer timing or incidence, which means all therapies determine similar risks for developing the disease after kidney transplantation.
Dr. Gallagher admitted that no significant differences in cancer risk were shown that would allow specialists to blame one or the other of the three treatment regimens. The conclusion of the study was that no single immunosuppressive treatment would be responsible for driving the increase in developing cancer for kidney transplant patients.
The study also reveals that there are certain patient characteristics, known at the moment of the transplantation, which significantly influence the risk of cancer. This way, non-skin cancer was associated with previous smoking history and increasing age as well, while skin cancer was related to increasing age, fairer skin, non-brown eyes, and a functioning transplant. Patients presenting a high risk can be more closely monitored and are supposed to use special preventing measures of protection against cancer.
The authors of the study have outlined that immunosuppressive treatments are not the same as twenty years ago. Today’s regimens are certainly better with respect to acute rejection prevention and are more efficient at immunosuppression.
Co-authors of this study include Meg Jardine, MBBS, PhD, FRACP, Vlado Perkovic, MBBS, PhD, FRACP, Alan Cass, MBBS, PhD, FRACP (The George Institute for International Health); Patrick Kelly, PhD, Jonathan Craig, MBBS, PhD (University of Sydney, in Australia); Josette Eris, MBBS, PhD, FRACP (Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, in Camperdown, Australia); and Angela Webster, MBBS, PhD, MRCP (University of Sydney and Australia and New Zealand Dialysis and Transplant – ANZDATA – Registry, in Adelaide, South Australia).
Dr. Gallagher and Dr. Perkovic have benefited from speaking fees from Roche Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Eris has been given travel assistance from and chairs advisory boards of Roche (chair), Novartis, Wyeth, and Janssen-Cilag. She also received travel support from Roche and Novartis during he last three years. Contributions from Novartis, Roche and Wyeth were given to ANZDATA Registry.

Heart and liver transplant recipients are exposed to lung cancer

admin — Sun, 09 May 2010 20:23:32 +0000

According to researchers who participated at the second European Lung Cancer Conference, it seems that after receiving a heart or liver transplant, recipients are exposed to a high risk of developing lung cancer. Doctors are advised to screen this type of patients for such cancers, in order to be able to detect the malignancy in time.
Doctors are already aware for decades that the immunosuppressive drugs that they prescribe to transplant patients increase the possibility of developing new cancers. Studies show that the risk of developing a malignant tumor in transplant patients ranges between 4% and 18%, but may even be 100-fold higher than in the general population. After transplantations, the most frequent malignancies are cancers of the skin and lips, Kaposi’s sarcoma or lymphoproliferative disorders.
French researchers have studied, on a recent project, the risk of developing lung cancer in patients who have suffered different types of transplants (solid organs). This is the largest and most important study to date which explores the development of lung cancer in transplant recipients.
The study has been made on 2,831 patients who have received organ transplants at Toulouse Hospital during a certain period: between February 1984 and September 2006. As a result, 0.85% of the transplant patients developed a lung cancer shortly after the intervention.
Dr. Julien Mazieres, the study coordinator, states that after kidney transplants, 10 lung cancers have developed (0.5%), 8 after liver transplants (1.3%) and 6 after heart transplantation (2.8%). He also declared that the difference is statistically significant.
Mazieres said that the high incidence of lung cancer in heart and liver transplant recipients in comparison to kidney transplant recipients may be due to most of these patients having a heavy smoking history. For heart-transplant patients, the average number of packs per year was 75.2, 40 for liver-transplant patients and 28.5 for kidney-transplant recipients.
Researchers claim that transplant recipients must be screened for expected cancers for which early detection and treatment are associated with better prognosis. The statement is particularly true for skin cancers.
Researchers also claim that doctors should also take into account screening for lung cancer. Dr. Mazieres says that a close follow-up including chest examination and X-ray is easy to do and also very useful. As a minimum requirement, physicians who take care of transplant recipients should keep in mind the increased risk of cancer and also integrate this risk factor in their follow-up to improve the survival chance for these patients.

Research on Bio-field Treatments Such as: Reiki, Therapeutic and Healing Touch. Truly Effective or Unnecessary?

catias — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:10:20 +0000

The bio-field based treatments are said to utilize slight energy in order to rush the organism`s healing activities. These therapies represent complementary processes regarding the degree of pain reduction in various illnesses. Moreover, the bio-field therapies are said to decrease the anxiety persons admitted to hospitals encounter. In addition, these complementary treatments seem to decrease the aggressive behavior of people suffering from dementia in an equal or better manner than standard therapies could. Nonetheless, the effects of the bio-filed based therapies on the long-run are not very well known.

Leading co-authors of an investigation regarding this subject are doctors Shamini Jain and Paul Mills. The first comes from the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control Research within the University of California, Los Angeles and the latter is a doctor in the University of California`s Department of Psychiatry. Along with the Moores Comprehensive Cancer Center from San Diego, United States, the two released their research findings regarding the bio-field treatments on the Internet website of the Springer’s International Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

There is an important number of people suffering from various conditions who use bio-field based treatments such as: healing touch, Reiki and therapeutic touch. However, the efficacy of these treatments has not been proven. These therapeutic treatments date millennia back when they were used for counteracting various physical and mental diseases in numerous cultural clusters. Nowadays, they are under the magnifier as Western researchers are trying to discover just how efficient they are in counteracting various conditions.

Doctors Shamini Jain and Paul Mills underwent a study comprising clinical trials which summed up a number of 66. They focused on the bio-field related treatments associated with therapies for various patients coming from different cultures and suffering from different conditions. The investigators focused on just how clear and convincing the effectiveness of this type of treatment was. The group of researchers found out that all the studies released on the bio-field therapies are somehow of middle quality related to the scientific evidence.

Considering this findings, the team of investigators discovered hard proves that the bio-field based treatments decrease the degree of pain in people belonging to the non-hospitalized population and mild proves that these therapies are efficient regarding the decreasing degree of pain in people admitted to hospitals and patients suffering from malignant tumors.

Mild proves regarding the bio-field therapies exist related to the aggressive behavior of people suffering from dementia and the efficiency of these treatments in diminishing the anxiety state of people admitted to hospitals. The group of investigators did not find any link between the effectiveness of the bio-field treatments and conditions such as fatigue and the life quality of people suffering from malignant tumors, overall degree of pain decrease and anxiety counteracting in people developing cardiovascular conditions.

The team of researchers state that there is an increasing need to investigate further this subject in a very qualitative manner and also recommend come areas that could host these investigations. In addition, they state that in order for patients to be better informed regarding the possible advantages and disadvantages of bio-field based therapies, physicians and researchers concerned with the behavioral medicine have to acquire a good understanding of this subject. This means that the doctors and scientists have to be well informed regarding bio-field based therapies and take a closer look at practice, theory and studies focusing on this matter.

Non-small Cell Lung Cancer Eliminated in Mice Thanks to a Combination between Medication and Radiation

catias — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:08:55 +0000

The scientists from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center managed to counteract the NSCL (non-small cell lung cancer) in the mouse organism by utilizing a clinical trial medication entitled BEZ235 and combining it with irradiation in low-dosage.

The investigation was released in the Cancer Research journal in its October edition. The investigators from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center discovered that if they gave the mice the BEZ235 medication prior to undergoing harmless radiation in order to counteract the cancerous cell development of DNA, the BEZ235 would counteract the activity of the PI3K protein which typically acts as a guardian of the tumor cells. This protein maintains the cancerous cells in life in the moment they are attacked and try to heal their broken DNA.

Besides the leading author, the team of investigators from the University of Texas comprised: doctor Erik Bey from the Harold C. Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center, doctor Andrea Rabellino, doctor Katja Schuster, doctor Adi Gazdar, professor within the University of Texas Southwestern, Jake Hamon from the Center for Therapeutic Oncology Research, doctor David Boothman from the Simmons Comprehensive Cancer, researchers coming from the University of Camerino in Italy and Novartis Pharma in Switzerland. Their investigation was financed by funds coming from National Institutes of Health, American Cancer Society, Concern Foundation, Gibson Foundation, Leukemia of Texas, United States Department of Energy and the American Italian Cancer Foundation.

The scientists observed this treatment opportunity in mice that underwent a transplant process with non-small cell lung cancer tumors from human beings.

During their observation process, the researchers discovered that the malignant tumors developing in the mice which were treated with just the BEZ235 has a decrease in size compared to those affecting mice which were not undergoing any type of treatments. Even though the malignant tumors did not grow in size, their life was not ended by administering the specific medication.

On the other hand, mice undergoing the BEZ235 treatment combined with low-dose radiation recorded many cases of total elimination of the malignant tumors.

The leading investigator was doctor Pier Paolo Scaglioni who is assistant professor of the internal medicine department within the University of Texas Southwestern. He stated that the findings of his research team regarding the combination of medication and low-dose radiation may prove to become an efficient treatment for counteracting non-small cell lung cancer in human beings.

The non-small cell lung cancer represents one of the main causes of cancer connected mortality on the whole Globe. The malignant cells usually favor transformations in the K-RAS which is a gene. People suffering from mutations of the K-RAS usually present an increased resistance to therapies comprising irradiation. This is the cause for which their life perspectives are unfavorable.

The K-RAS transformations trigger the networks or different pathways of various proteins that act as signals to activate. This signaling represents a key element in the development and growth of a malignant tumor. The PI3K represents just one of these proteins. At the moment of activation, it acts as a guardian which aids the cells in maintaining living functions even after their DNA was damaged and they try to heal it.

Some of the elements forming the signal networks comprising also the PI3K protein have been explored as various medication targets for counteracting malignant tumors. The clinical tested medication BEZ235 has been recently in experiments comprising clinical tests for counteracting the activity of the PI3K and the mTOR which represents a signaling protein, also.

As the leading investigator states there is no efficient treatment counteracting the non-small cell lung cancer which hosts transformations of the K-RAS.

Medical doctor Pier Paolo Scaglioni conducted the first tests in order to identify the efficacy of the BEZ235 drug and thus, they tested it alone. The team of investigators discovered that the BEZ235 stops the evolution and growth of the lung cancer malignant cells that were developed in the laboratory and the malignant lung cells that affect the mice.

As the leading author of this first research, doctor Georgia Konstantinidou states the findings of the investigators were shocking. However, they strived to discover a way for a faster malignant cell deterioration. They found put that by combining the tested medication with low-dose radiation, the success of their mission was assured. Doctor Georgia Konstantinidou is a post-doctoral scientist within the University of Texas Southwestern.

Doctor Pier Paolo Scaglioni`s research group observed that the malignant cells which were treated with the BEZ235 medication and low-dosed irradiation. The latter triggered slight breaks in the cellular genetic material but did not managed to affect them in a more effective way in order to destroy them. At the moment the DNA of the cell is broken, the malignant cells are aided by the PI3K signaling network in order to assure the cancer cell`s survival while it is healing its genetic material.

The team of investigators explained that the malignant cells needed the PI3K signaling pathway to assure they remain alive and without the protein`s response they were prone to die. This is why in the moment the scientists administered the BEZ235 medication it stopped the action of the PI3K protein and this means that the non-small cell lung cancer cells were starting to die.

As the leading author of the research explains the future stage of the study is that of administering the BEZ235 medication or similar drugs in clinical tests against the non-small cell lung suffering human beings. This could also be applied in clinical trials comprising people suffering from other types of malignant cells such as pancreatic, colon and thyroid cancers. There are the same with the non-small cell lung due to the fact that the PI3K signaling network also acts as an important agent in the malignant cells` evolution.

New Initiative to Screen the Exposure to Environmental Carcinogens

catias — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:06:37 +0000

A recent investigation of an ACS (American Cancer Society) research collaborator subcommittee regarding cancer and the environment stated that the exposing of oneself to carcinogens must be diminished as much as possible and even stopped in the cases where it might be possible. Moreover, the cancer and environment subcommittee states that there is an urgent need to develop new ways to screen a higher number of chemical agents that affect the environment and, implicitly, the people. This strategy of monitoring and analyzing should be developed in the most effective and efficient matter as possible.

This environmental report is just a part of the process of taking care of the continuous and newly discovered problems regarding the pollutant agents of the environment and cancer. Moreover, the scope of the report is to shed more light on the principles, mission, values, objectives and various roles of the American Cancer Society on issues such as those mentioned before: pollution and malignant tumors prevention.

As the co-chair of the subcommittee and chairman of the Department of Preventive Medicine within the Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, medical doctor Jonathan Samet explains the problems regarding the environmental pollution agents affecting the air, water, food and thus, customer products represent issues on general public care and high unknowns. He also adds that their report aims to put the pollution agents of the environment in a greater relationship with preventing malignant tumors. The relationship focuses on reducing the smoking habit of the population, improving nutritional behavior, increasing the physical activities, maintaining a proper body weight and come up with vaccines that counteract the infections which may cause cancers.

The other co-chair of the subcommittee is also volunteer president of the American Cancer Society. Her name is Elizabeth “Terry” T.H. Fontham and she stated that the exposure levels of the population to chemical and pollution agents affecting the environment are much lower than the levels linked to the showed predisposition to developing malignant tumors in the jobs people have and other daily settings. However, the concern raised by the low exposure levels has to do with the fact that the number and types of pollution substances are increasing and may prove in the future to get out of the population`s control. In addition, the problems related to the fact that even low exposure levels bring some contribution to the cancer developing cases cause more reasons for distress considering the high number of persons who are daily exposed to the environmental pollutants.

The subcommittee`s report states that the scientific problems related to the exposure of people to the environmental pollutants represent complex issues just like increase in the number of landscape technologies which are utilized to analyze the chemical carcinogenicity. In spite of the capability of the nowadays tools used to identify and categorize proves for carcinogenicity, the subcommittee`s article states that there exist three main problems which constrain them from using them because there is a limited quantity of resources which are allotted to function those specific systems and from a scientific point of view, the environmental problems are complex and uncertain.

The report`s concerns about cancer vary and are related to malignant tumors prevention. There is a high need for new stratagems related to the tests done to evaluate the environment`s toxicity, comprising also the evaluation of carcinogenicity. These new strategies could be incorporated in such a manner as to assure a more efficient and effective screening process of a higher number of chemical agents which affect people daily. In addition, exposure to occupational and community settings should be regulated by some standards. The subcommittee draws attention on the need to support investigations aimed at identifying and decreasing the number of hazards provoked by carcinogens. Furthermore, the institutions that determine and implement standards for the environment must meet proper financing and appropriate technology in order to be near the scientific evolution and upgrade their set standards according to the new available data.

Even though some exposure cannot be avoided, this type of exposure must be somehow diminished and even stopped in the cases where it is possible to do so. In addition, the population must receive information about these matters in order to know their health status and risk of cancer or other diseases. Last, but not least, the media communication must make people aware of the situation of the exposure in an accurate manner and not to exaggerate or diminish the importance and level of environmental pollution factors.

The subcommittee’s report states that in order to create and implement this new initiative in order to assure the acquiring of more knowledge regarding the association between the levels of exposure to environmental pollution agents and the predisposition to various types of cancers, the American Cancer Society is going to further develop its long-run commitment to preventing malignant tumors. In addition, the American Cancer Society is also keen on studying these problems more thorough in order to discover new ways in which the initiative could bring more benefits in an effective and efficient manner.